Attica (2021) Movie Review
Stanley Nelson is well known for his prolific documentaries highlighting moments of Black history in the United States. Nelson has covered topics like HBCU’s, the Tulsa Race Massacre, and the Freedom Riders. It seems logical that he would tackle Attica next. If you aren’t familiar with what happened at Attica, here’s a brief summary. In September 1971, tensions at Attica boiled over and more than 1,000 inmates revolted. They took over the prison, captured guards as hostages, and filled the prison yard. They demanded better treatment in the prison and essentially wanted prison reform. After five days of negotiations with New York lawmen and elected officials, law enforcement stormed the prison and killed 29 inmates and 10 hostages.
The documentary interviews ex-inmates and family members of the guards who were taken hostage. The interviews with the ex-inmates were incredibly illuminating as they first described what conditions in the prison were like in the 1970’s. Inmates were allotted one roll of toilet paper per month. They were fed on less than $1/day leaving them hungry and without the proper nutrition. Countless inmates relayed stories about guards entering their cells at night while they slept and beating them for no reason at all. Race seemed to play a large role in the tensions at Attica. The fact that most of the guards had grown up in the nearby town and were white was problematic on many levels. Several of the ex-inmates mentioned the white guards not being able to relate to them at all because they grew up in such vastly different environments. The guards were from a small town with very little diversity and the inmates were often from the city.
The inmates revolt was captured in great detail because it was a media frenzy. During their negotiations with New York Commissioner of Corrections, Russell Oswald, they had a list of thirty-three demands some of which involved certain public figures and media attending the negotiations. Stanley Nelson uses the footage from the media to showcase what those five days were like for the inmates. When the Governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller, failed to turn up for the negotiations, law enforcement was sent in to take back control of the prison.
It was a complete massacre. The officers came, guns blazing against the inmates who had nothing but knives to defend themselves. Nelson’s choices here make the biggest impact. He leaves the sound of the gunfire playing in the background as the ex-inmates relay their experience. The effect is both tremendous and horrendous. It paints an extremely realistic portrayal of the chaos that was happening around the inmates as law enforcement opened fire on them. The horror doesn’t stop there and this last part will undoubtedly be hard for most to watch. After re-taking the prison, law enforcement made all of the inmates strip naked and crawl through the latrine filled with human waste. This was just the tip of the iceberg for most of the inmates who were subjected to various methods of what can only be labeled as torture. The footage Nelson utilizes is incredibly effective and you have to wonder how it even exists. The extreme brutality on display reminded me of war photographs.
The footage is incredibly damning for the law enforcement officers. At one point after the absolute torrent of bullets finally dies down, one officer is blatantly grinning at the “success” they’ve just had while another yells “White power” triumphantly. It’s hard to not see the officers actions as anything other than a hate-fueled racism killing frenzy, especially considering the officers wound up killing 10 hostages in the process. Attica provides excellent commentary on race in America and it is alarming how little progress we seem to have made since the 1970’s. This is truly a triumph for Nelson’s storied filmmaking career and quite possibly his best film. Attica is a necessary watch for all Americans.
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You’re interested in prison reform
2. You were alive in the 1970’s and remember Attica
3. You like documentaries about race relations
